National Cornbread Festival winners announced

Mary Constantine

4:09 PM, May 1, 2013

Winners of the National Cornbread Festival cook-off, held on April 27, include Lorie Roach of Buckatunna, Miss., who won first place with her roasted poblano chicken posole with floating corn cake islands. Second place went to Chrystal Schlueter of Northglenn, Colo., with Harvest Apple Cornbread Panzella, and third went to Kim Brown, Henegar, Ala., with her recipe for Poppin Chicken Pones.

1 For soup: Heat oven to broil. Place poblanos on baking sheet. Broil until skin is blistered and charred. Place in medium bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. Remove from bowl and peel. Cut off ends, slice open and lay flat. Scrape and discard seeds. Finely chop the chiles. Set aside.

3 For corn cakes: Whisk cornbread mix, milk and egg. Stir in corn and Monterey Jack cheese. Heat about 2 tablespoons oil in 10 ½-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Pour corn cake batter by ¼ cupfuls onto skillet. Cook until golden brown. Turn and brown on other side. Add more oil as needed for remaining batter. To serve, spoon posole into bowls. Float a corn cake on top of soup. Top with desired toppings.